Yoram Mizrachi
Published at the same time on the website Colmusant
Direct link to this page: https://www.hayadan.org.il/yh050105.html
In the week in which fateful presidential elections were held in Ukraine and global man-made or natural events took place, the election campaign for the Uzbek Majlis was pushed to a corner. None of those who were nevertheless interested in what is happening these days in Central Asia, was not surprised when the president, Islam Abdugnaviech Karimov, an experienced 69-year-old politician who grew up in the Soviet academy, announced in Tashkent that he "welcomes the results" and warmly greeted his friends and political partners, who, according to him, "won the unwavering trust of the general public"
Karimov with Donald Rumsfeld
Election observers did not expect a different response. The regime that replaced the communist government in 1991, on whose behalf Sharett Karimov as president of the "Socialist Republic of Uzbekistan" allowed only parties loyal to the president to participate in the race for the Majlis. Not only the president's political allies, but also those connected to his family's businesses, which often extend outside the country. For example, the cell phone business, which is held by the president's daughter, who sits as an economic advisor at the Turkmenistan embassy in Moscow.
The opposition, which fears the brutality of the Uzbek security services, about whose actions horror stories are spread, for example cooking and being interrogated in boiling water, did not protest the administrative-legal obstacles placed in its path on the eve of the elections. No one dared to take to the streets when it became known that Karimov's opponents did not receive a license to participate in the elections, while international human rights organizations reported from their offices in Tashkent, Bukhara and other centers, about physical and verbal threats against the government's opponents. These reports, as mentioned, included horrific descriptions of what was happening in Karimov's interrogation facilities, led, among other things, the observers of the European Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to declare the elections "dubious to say the least."
At the head of the critics are British activists, including the former ambassador CRAIG MURRY, who two years ago caused a scandal when, during a non-diplomatic course, he publicly and uncompromisingly criticized the regime of President Islam Karimov. The ambassador also claimed that the Uzbek intelligence cooperates with the American CIA and the equivalent British agency MI6 and even serves as an "interrogation clearinghouse" for them and, if necessary, "stores for the English and the Americans detainees of the Jihad type"
The ambassador was returned to London, but almost at the same time as his dismissal, news was spread about the supposedly immoral acts that Mari engaged in while he was in Tashkent. In the British Foreign Office, where the investigation of the accusations continues, they hinted that the tip of the slander and the failures against the ambassador - is in the hands of Karimov, who is known to meticulously collect personal intelligence information on his opponents, Uzbeks and others. The British Foreign Office, like its counterparts in the West, refused at this stage to address the situation of approximately 10000 political prisoners, who are being held without trial in Uzbek detention camps and prisons, the continuation of illegal arrests that take place every day, restrictions on the media and the principle of freedom of expression, and more alongside the tyrannical behavior of the appointed president "Neo-Stalinist" for all that it implies.
The analysis of the first "Uzbek Week" after the elections, shows that the Western and Russian reconciliation with the way the elections were conducted and the results, stems from the fact that President Karimov, who considers himself "one of the greatest fighters against Islamic terrorism", remains in power and has returned to his commitment not to deviate from what he called a "merciless war against terrorism and the creation of a sane Islam" at the same time Karimov promised an opportunity not only to aid the American war on terror, but to help Russia struggling with its own mujahideen scourge.
The results of the elections in the Muslim country of approximately 27 million inhabitants, whose area is slightly larger than Florida, did not therefore bring open congratulations from Russia, which ruled the country from the 18th century until 1991. President Vladimir Putin, who is recently depicted in the eyes of the West as a "modern tsar" knows that his Uzbek counterpart is more than "just Because it's comfortable to live next to him." In practice, he finds in Karimov an active partner in the regional war against the Mujahideen and a brake on the way to the strengthening of radical Islam in Central Asia. A political source in Moscow said as soon as he learned the results of the elections to the Mejlis, "Leaving the Karimov regime in place is the least evil, since the man who was formerly the head of the Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan, is doing more against terrorism than others in the area that used to be the Russian Far East" the source added further "Shakrimov Cures extremist Islamic groups and fights them mercilessly"
A similar reaction came from neighboring Muslim countries, in Western Europe as well as in NATO, where they do not hesitate to cooperate with an anti-Islamic dictator, who is clearly aligned with the right of the West and guards the "back entrance to Afghanistan". of a new fanatical Islamic state, which will be established through a "clean" election process and will immediately abolish every democratic vestige upon its ascension to power. The example before the heads of NATO is that of Algiers, whose democratic attempt brought radical Islam to power and resulted in a pro-Western military coup.
The elections in Uzbekistan also brought "quiet joy" in the United States, which sees itself as the leader of the global war on terror, since the State Department and the Pentagon know that, within the visible range, the election result guaranteed the continuation of the rule of an Asian Muslim president, from the friends of the United States. Criticism, coming from the State Department, almost as a conditioned reflex in everything related to democracy, therefore sounds weak even compared to other statements by the administration, which in early 2004 condemned the deterioration of the internal political situation in Georgia and only recently used harsh language as a response to domestic policy measures taken by President Putin.
Paradoxically, a real-politic situation is thus created, which presents a scenario according to which it turns out that the more Moscow moves away from a democratic-western style of government, the more the value of Uzbekistan will increase in the eyes of the United States, which is ready to allow the United States to establish a strategic outpost in the heart of Asia. An estimate of the amount of Uzbekistan's natural treasures, including oil, gold and uranium, is also placed before the eyes of the State Department planners.
Intelligence sources in Tashkent and other capitals in the region say that the military cooperation between the US and Uzbekistan continues, sometimes openly, and that the US sees the "locked-in" country in Central Asia, without access to the sea, as an important pillar in strengthening the political card house called the Republics of Central Asia.
Map of Uzbekistan
A perusal of the map makes clear, even to those who are not involved in strategy, the importance of the Uzbek country with its 6221 km border with five Muslim countries, including a 137 km particularly sensitive border with Afghanistan. The country is laid out as a rectangular block, with Uzbeks of diverse ethnic origin living in its various regions, who have extensive cultural ties with its neighbors. For example, the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, was recently quoted as saying in Europe that "friendship and good neighborliness with Uzbekistan is of paramount security importance for all the countries located in the ancient Silk Road area." There is no doubt that the president also took into account the status of his necessary partner, the Afghan general Uzbek Dostum, one of the more prominent power brokers in Afghanistan.
President Karimov, who analyzes "with pinpoint accuracy" what is happening around his country in the broad international arena, continues to wave the flag of strategic usefulness. A retired senior French officer, known to the author of the article from his time serving in the UNPIL, said "Kerimov's strategic flag flags attract attention like a naked prostitute in the Foreign Legion camp", with the superlative being clear and needing no explanation. Experts on what is going on in Central Asia, comment that since his first term as president of independent Uzbekistan, the sophisticated ruler began to openly court, not only the US but also NATO in general.
During its consistent "courtship" of the West, Uzbekistan allows NATO to train in Uzbek bases and establish military installations in its territory, even though it is not a member of the North Atlantic Alliance. Since the beginning of the events of the war on terror, for example, the American attack on the Taliban and the need to secure Western interests in Afghanistan, the mountainous-desert country, which is led by a "guided democracy" method, continues to dance in the court of President Bush and, when necessary, also appear in the court of President Putin. Thus, for example, Uzbekistan adds to serve as a transit station for NATO and United States aircraft on their way to and from Afghanistan and a convenient assessment area, touching not only Afghanistan but also Russia's Eastern Arava. Tsanya, east of the Urals.
The fascinating political situation is evidenced by more than a thousand witnesses that Western rhetoric due to "democratic values" has no connection to the strategic reality of East-West relations just like the considerations of the "enlightened West" when it comes to dealing with essential tyrannical regimes, for example Saudi Arabia, whose thousands of princes are not exactly Amnesty International activists. Another example is the wave of Western sympathy for Gaddafi, a shameless show in which the Libyan creep was purified, which these days receives superlatives worthy of the filthy Mohandas Gandhi or Mother Teresa. This is how President Karimov upholds a typical Uzbek proverb "The owner of the carpet decides who enters the mosque"
